Executive Calendar-- Continued

Floor Speech

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Mr. President, it feels like Groundhog Day again because, once more, we are seeing Republican leadership in the Senate advancing another bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act and to make radical cuts to the Medicaid Program.

As with previous efforts, this new bill--they call it Graham-Cassidy, but it really is TrumpCare 3.0, the third version, and it is strictly partisan legislation, crafted in secret outside of regular order, without hearings or consultation with most Senators or stakeholders.

But here is what is different: This bill is even more reckless and more destructive than previous bills to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

It would take away healthcare coverage from an estimated 30 million Americans. It would effectively end protections for people with preexisting conditions by allowing insurers to charge exorbitant rates.

It would make profound cuts to the Medicaid Program, which is a lifeline for 33 million children, 10 million people with disabilities, and 6 million seniors in nursing homes. It would be a tragic setback in the fight against the opioid epidemic because it would end access to lifesaving treatment for an estimated 1.3 million people with substance use disorders. In New Hampshire, where we are at the epicenter of the heroin and opioid epidemic, it would have a huge and tragic impact.

President Trump said that the previous Republican bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act was ``mean,'' and make no mistake, this bill is far worse. As I have said repeatedly, the only constructive way forward is for Democrats and Republicans to come together in a good-faith, bipartisan effort to repair and strengthen the current law.

As Senator McCain said to this Chamber in July: ``Let's return to regular order. We've been spinning our wheels on too many important issues because we keep trying to find a way to win without help from the other side.''

When Senator McCain said that, we gave him a standing ovation on the floor of this Chamber. In the weeks since the vote on the last attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, the Senate has actually been acting on his advice. We have been working under the leadership of Senators Alexander and Murray, the chair and ranking member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, on bipartisan legislation to restore certainty to the health insurance markets, to fix problems with the Affordable Care Act that we all acknowledge. This effort includes a version of legislation that I have been working on to make regular appropriations for cost-sharing reduction payments. Those are payments that keep copays and deductibles affordable for low- and middle-income Americans.

I have participated, as have so many Senators, in the bipartisan meetings they have held with Governors, providers, stakeholders, insurers, and State insurance commissioners to craft a positive way forward. It is very disappointing that we are here today with another attempt to blow up all of these bipartisan efforts by bringing to the floor yet another divisive, partisan bill.

To understand why people are upset and fearful about this latest attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act, I would call our attention to the many positive impacts the Affordable Care Act has had across the country--and in my home State of New Hampshire--and the consequences of repealing that law.

Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, more than 49,000 Granite Staters have been able to get health insurance coverage through the marketplace. Thanks to the Medicaid expansion, more than 11,000 people in New Hampshire have gotten lifesaving treatments. The Medicaid expansion, which has been a bipartisan effort between then-Democratic Governor Maggie Hassan and a Republican legislature, has been a critical tool in our fight against the opioid epidemic, and hundreds of thousands of Granite Staters with preexisting conditions at one time or another no longer face discrimination by health insurance companies. In one fell swoop, this Graham-Cassidy TrumpCare legislation would put all of these gains in jeopardy.

I would appeal to my colleagues in the Senate to stop and reconsider what is going on. Listen to the stories. Look at the faces of everyday Americans whose lives would be devastated by this legislation--from children, to seniors, to veterans.

Several months ago on Facebook and other social media platforms, I asked people across New Hampshire to tell me their stories--stories about how the Affordable Care Act has made a lifesaving difference or has improved their lives and the well-being of their families. I was overwhelmed by the response.

Here in Washington, some seem to think that repealing the Affordable Care Act, no matter how destructive the consequences, is just about politics; it is about notching a win for their team. But for the people in New Hampshire and across the country, repealing the Affordable Care Act and slashing Medicaid isn't about politics. It is about life and death. It is about people being cut off from vital, lifesaving treatment for substance use disorders. It is about families losing affordable health coverage, about seniors being unable to pay for nursing home care, and about millions of vulnerable people with preexisting conditions who would effectively be denied health coverage.

It is about returning to the pre-ACA days when simply being a woman was considered a preexisting condition, justifying much higher rates.

I urge Republican leaders to stop this latest effort of destructive partisanship. There should be no retreat from the progress we have made in recent years, including the progress against the opioid epidemic. I encourage Senators who support this ill-conceived legislation to listen to the Governors, listen to the insurance commissioners, listen to patient and provider groups, and, most importantly, listen to their constituents.

Let's fix what is not working about the Affordable Care Act, and let's not pass legislation to take healthcare away from people. Let's support bipartisan efforts now under way in the Senate to stabilize the marketplaces and to provide access to quality, affordable healthcare for every American.

Thank you.

I yield the floor.

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